Writing & IDEA Maps

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Learning Outcome
What is the Strategy?
Guided Practice
Apply the Strategy
Summarize the Strategy
So where to From Here?
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1. LISTENS
2. RAPPP
3. Cards
4. Notes-4-Learning
5. Summary Sheets
6. SCORER for tests
7. IDEA maps - writing
8. Problem Solving Math
9. Time Management
10. Goal Setting

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1. Listen Better
2. Comprehend your reading
3. Learn more effectively
4. Take better notes
5. Summarize your learning
6. Do better on tests
7. Organize your writing
8. Solve math word problems
9. Manage your time
10. Set & achieve goals

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Quick Question

Have you ever gotten a writing assignment and not known where to start?
Or do you think about the topic for a few minutes and start to write, edit it and then hand it in as the final product?
Does your writing start out talking about one topic and end on another topic?
Or have you received an assignment back with the comment 'Good effort but your organization needs work . . .'.
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Learning Outcome

When you have learnt and practiced the steps of writing: Pre-writing, Writing the First Draft, Revision , Editing and Publishing.
You will be able to writie better.
The IDEA map strategy assists you in the Prewriting stage to organize your ideas to help you communicate better in your writing assignments.
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What is the Strategy?

The strategy focuses on writing which consists of 5 steps:

Pre-writing is first step that allows us to generate ideas, and organize our thoughts and prepare for the writing of the first draft. Many consider this the most important step.

Consider three elements when doing your Pre-wrtiting.
- key words that tell you what your purpose is i.e. 'discuss'; or 'compare'
- topic which tells what you should be writing about and
- focus which limits the topic.
For example discuss (key) the impact of computers (topic) on college students (focus).

Writing the First Draft is focused on the content, not the mechanics and should be written quickly. If you are having trouble here go back to the Pre-writing stage.

Revising is looking at the writing again and develop it further, not to edit for mechanics and spelling but to revise the words, order, flow to provide a better sequence of events. Sentences and paragraphs may be deleted if they don't contribute to making the piece of writing effective.

Editing is the stage that most of us know must occur. This is when you proofread for mechanics and grammar. An editing checklist can be used such as COPS which stands for
C Capitalization
O Organization
P Punctuation/Paragraphs
S Sentences/Spelling

Publishing is where we put our writing out to the public to find out how others feel about what we have written. This helps you to clarify your work, generate new ideas, and most importantly validate the piece of writing. There are many ways to publish including newsletters, class books, individual books, bulletin boards, contests, story readings for others, children, friends or classmates, tape recording the story, performing the story, etc. It gives us an opportunity to gain feedback from others.

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Guided Practice
When you have a writing assignment to do whether it is personal writing such as a letter, logbook, journal, diary; or creative writing such as a poem, play, story, essay, song, joke, novel, mysteries, etc; or persuasive writing such as a letters to the editor, cartoon, essay, advertisement, slogan, petition, commercial, etc; or technical writing such as a report, research paper, essay, interview, instruction manual or a school assignment which could be any of the above.
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Apply the Strategy

Use the strategy each time you are doing any kind of writing.
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Summarize the Strategy

Take a few minutes and think back to one of your past writings and decide which steps you used and which ones you did not. How could you have made that writing better?
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So where to from here?

Print the handout by selecting the Writing and IDEA Maps Handout.and use the steps of writing.

For the Pre-writing stage, use IDEA maps as described on the handout for organizing and planning your writing.

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Carry around Bookmark

Create your own carry around Bookmark by printing Writing & IDEA Maps bookmark.
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One Page Handout

Click on Writing and IDEA Maps Handout.to print a one page (actually a three page handout) for your reference of this strategy.
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copyright 2002 Roger Moore